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Actions of Police Appropriate in Portapique Standoff

Mar

31

An investigation by the province's Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT) has concluded there are no grounds to consider charges against two members of the RCMP in relation to a 49-year-old man who took his own life in Portapique, Colchester Co., near 6 p.m. on October 16, 2013.

The man was parked and in his truck when he contacted 911 about 15 hours earlier. He spoke with the 911 operator for two and a half hours. He then spoke with one or the other of the two officers over the next twelve and a half hours. Each was a trained negotiator. Throughout the call the man gave details of how he murdered his wife a few hours before he called 911, and he spoke about his intent to end his own life. He was very distraught about what he had done. He remained in his truck the entire time. The SiRT investigation found that the operator and both police officers were very professional when dealing with the man, and the officers demonstrated the best aspects of persons trained in negotiation techniques. While they all did their best to have the man surrender without harm to anyone, near 6 p.m. he took his own life with a single gunshot to his head.

There is no evidence whatsoever that the officers did anything other than work as best they could to convince the man to surrender peacefully. As a result, there are no grounds to consider charges against either RCMP officer.

SIRT is responsible for investigating all serious incidents involving police in Nova Scotia. Investigations are under the direction and control of independent civilian director Ron MacDonald, who has the sole authority to determine if charges should be laid after the conclusion of an investigation.